 News
11th January 2007
Oxford clinic first to offer new fertility treatment
The Oxford Fertility Unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital has become the
first centre in the UK to offer a revolutionary new assisted conception
treatment.
In-vitro maturation - or IVM - is a safer and cheaper new
form of treatment which has had a 30 per cent success rate, compared to
around 10 per cent with normal IVF.
The treatment involves the premature removal of young eggs
from a woman's ovaries, which are then matured in a laboratory, fertilised
and placed into the mother's womb.
The main advantage of the treatment is that the woman does
not need to take artificial hormones to force her ovaries to produce eggs.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Professor Bob Edwards, who
helped create the world's first IVF baby Louise Brown, said that he believed
IVM would eventually replace IVF.
He said, "Hormone drugs make IVF expensive, and now
there are suspicions that high doses affect egg quality.
"We have now got fed up with multiple births and massive-stimulation
using hormone drugs. I see IVM as an all-round - and cheaper - solution.
This really is a new era for IVF. A revolution."
Mr Tim Child, Consultant Gynaecologist at the Oxford Fertility
Clinic, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Oxford, has studied IVM
extensively and said, "We’re thrilled to be the first UK clinic to
offer IVM as it gives the option of a treatment which is easier for the
patient during what is often a very stressful time.
"The cost of drugs, which is often largely met by the
patients, is also reduced, meaning IVM has the potential to become a more
accessible form of fertility treatment."
Initially only women over 36 years of age with ovaries of
a Polycystic nature will be offered IVM but it is hoped the treatment
will eventually be offered to all women.
Around 400 babies have now been born worldwide as a result
of IVM treatment.
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